>Step by step

7. Completing your final mixdown

1

Let’s start the mixdown by adding your DAW’s limiter to the master output, so we can drive the mix into it later on. Now, we’ll work on the piano. Start by reducing its volume to -1dB, so it sits more comfortably with the rest of the mix. 4

Let’s add some vocal processing. Add Acon Digital’s CM Verb to a new return track, and choose the Medium Chamber preset. Disable the Dry Level, then set up a -6dB send from both vocal tracks to the reverb. Turn the female vocal up by 2dB, so it sits upfront in the mix. 2

Add PSP’s cmDelay to a new return track, then turn off the dry signal, leaving just the wet effect. Set up a -6dB send to the delay return from the piano. We’ll sync the Delay Time, then set it to ¼ notes. Increase the High Pass Filter’s frequency to 300Hz. 5

We can smooth the sibilant frequencies in both our female and male vocals using ToneBoosters’ SibilanceCM. Group the vocals together, then load the plugin onto the group. Set the Amount to 70% and Attack to 0.2ms so the sibilance gets dealt with, without removing too much high frequency detail. 3

The delay has added much needed flavour to the piano. We’ll move on to a little automation now. Add Vengeance’s VPS Philta CM to the grouped drums, then automate the High Pass filter so it gradually fades in the low frequencies of the drums during the breakdown, adding extra detail. 6

Add Acustica Audio’s PinkCM to the master output before the limiter. Dialling in a boost at 10kHz adds high frequency air, while pushing the Output gain up to around 1 o’clock overloads the master limiter, giving a sound similar to overloading the analogue to digital converters on a DAT machine.